Cruz Azul head coach Vicente Sanchez celebrated the team’s 5-0 triumph over the Vancouver Whitecaps to win the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup before adding his future with the Liga MX club remains in question.
Sanchez took over as Cruz Azul interim manager amid the 2025 Liga MX Clausura tournament in February, after head coach Martin Anselmi left the post abruptly to join FC Porto. He managed to lead the club to third place on the Liga MX table with 33 points and a 9-6-2 (W-D-L) record before reaching the tournament’s semifinal and winning the CCC trophy.
“Value comes from numbers; it was a semester where the numbers speak for themselves. I value myself highly because God placed me there. I’m grateful because the fans chanted my name, and they do so because they feel represented on the pitch,” said Sánchez following the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup final. “I don’t know the future; I live one day at a time, and I don’t know what will happen tomorrow.
“The decision isn’t up to me. There are many very good things. When we took over the team, we had one point, we were 16, we barely had a break, it was Tuesday and Saturday. We played in both tournaments; we were the team that played the most games in the entire semester. We reached the semifinals and finished undefeated in the Concacaf.”
He later expressed gratitude to club president Victor Velazquez for allowing him the opportunity to lead Cruz Azul.
“I’m grateful to Velázquez for putting his trust in me, and we responded with this title,” Sanchez said. “Today, Cruz Azul is at the top of the tournament. I’m very happy, after a semester of hard work. Returning the work to the person who trusted me is the best thing that can happen to you. Today, we gave Cruz Azul the title, and it’s the best thing that can happen. I live for today. I’m very happy.”
Despite the uncertainty, club captain Ignacio Rivero insisted the players stand with Sanchez.
“[It means] a lot, for everyone, not just for Vicente, who today is a coach who can continue with us or not,” Rivero said. “I’m not the one who can decide that, but well, we are very happy with him and well, time will tell.”
Cruz Azul player Lorenzo Faravelli echoed his teammates sentiment: “We defended Vicente on the pitch, and afterward, whether or not this happens tomorrow is no longer up to us.”
Cruz Azul lifted the Concacaf Champions Cup for the seventh time in club history, tying America for the most in the competition’s history. Despite its historical success in Concacaf’s elite club competition, it was the first time Cruz Azul won the title since 2013-14.
